Flicker and Flame
by ASnowDriftSomewhere
Summary: "She walked barefoot past him; her eyes on the flames as they touched the sky. Silhouetted in the orange glow of the fire she looked like an angel of fury." Leon/OC Rating subject to change


'Can you hear me?'

Leon's head shot up as he looked towards the dark night sky. He was alone, of that he was certain and yet…

'Hello?'

The voice was so small, the barest hint of a whisper echoing all around him as he stood alone in the empty field. No one knew about this place, he'd made it very clear that any God or Goldfish that came here without his permission would come to deeply regret it. So, who's voice was he hearing?

He turned his head and saw her. A human stood not twenty feet from him, faced away she seems to be staring up at the starry night sky. She was dressed simply, a short white dress that swayed in the breeze and pale blue flats. Around her wrist a bracelet sparkled in the moon light, a star charm catching his attention.

From the back she almost looked like the Goldfish he'd just left behind in the mansion. She and the other gods were celebrating her six-month relationship with her boyfriend. They begged Leon to stay and party too but he refused them. Why should he? Their relationship had nothing to do with him. It was a waist of his precious time to rejoice over something he, himself, would never have.

'Hello? Can you hear me?'

That voice rang out again. The human clasped her hand behind her back as she continued to stare wistfully up at the stars. Leon appraised her again realizing his assessment from before had been wrong. She looked nothing like the Goldfish. Her hair was much longer, nearly reaching her waist, and was a deep shade of blue, like the back drop of the sky above. Her skin was much paler than the Goldfish's too, like undisturbed snow it was practically glowing in the moonlight.

He watched her for a moment more, her back still to him as he stood up and began to approach. She was quite small, the top of her head only barely reaching his chest as he towered over her. He could crush her, he thought, it would be so easy.

"How did you get here?" he asked finally and she jumped in shock. Spinning around to face him her eyes wide in surprise as his mouth curled into its usual smirk. "Well, answer me."

"I-uh," she stammered, her voice no longer a whisper as she spoke. It was soft, like the flower petals that surrounded them. Delicate. "I-I live here…"

He frowned for a moment before realization hit. He saw it in a flash. To her she was standing on the balcony of her small apartment looking out over one of the many major cities around the earth. While he was still standing in his special meadow half a world away. How ever this connection came to be, it was a mental link and not a physical one.

"So, you do," he shrugged moving to stand in line with her, his eyes casting up towards the stars above. "Why am I here, Goldfish?"

"Ah-wa, Goldfish?" she stammered her head tipping to the side. "My name is Asha…"

"Who cares," he sighed loudly.

"I-I care." He frowned now, for the first time the awe and wonder disappeared from her face. "It's my name, I'd appreciate if you called me by it."

"Why should I?" he asked raising an eyebrow as he glanced down towards her from the corner of his eye. "Why should I, a God, learn the name of a lowly goldfish when it'll just be dead within the next breath I take?"

"A god…" she frowned, her expression telling him that she was having a hard time following what he was saying. He let out another dramatic sigh before *SNAP* He used his divine powers to pull a star from the sky. The small star took on the shape of a goldfish and swam circles around the girl before returning to its place in the heavens above them.

"Do you believe me now?" he mused, watching her eyes sparkle with awe before a new confusion clouded over it.

"But I don't understand," she spoke softly, "Why did you come?"

"I didn't," he spoke simply, "Someone connected me to you for reasons unknown. Tell me, girl, did you make a wish perhaps?"

She blushed a little, her eyes falling to the ground, "Uh.. yeah."

"Tell me."

She paused, "Do I have too?"

"You would refuse an order from a god?" his face took on a sinister expression as he placed a single finger under her chin to force her head up.

She paused again, "It's kind of embarrassing."

"I don't care," he grinned, "Tell me anyway."

"Okay but-" she slapped his hand away from her chin and took a step back from him, "Geez it's called personal space, stay outta mine."

"Oh-ho," he smirked again, "Telling a God what to do, you're braver than you look."

"N-no," she blushed again, "It's just- ah…" she trailed off while he waited, expectantly.

She sighed heavily, seeming too loose the will to fight it anymore. He would get the information out of her and he would do what he wanted. There were no arguments to be had, no bartering to be done. This was Leon's show and she was at him mercy.

"When I was little my Grandmother told me a story," she began, her eyes looking back to the stars once more. "About a girl who loved no one. She was loved by her friends, and her family of course but romantically, there was no one.

"Her parents got worried. They thought she would become an old maid but she kept assuring them she wouldn't. Finally, they asked her why she was so sure. What made her so positive she would find a partner and settle down and she told them." She looked up at him now, "I have a soulmate, all I have to do is wait for them."

"Soulmate," he scoffed, rolling his eyes as he looked up to the sky. "Only Goldfish could come up with a concept so absurd."

"They didn't stop worrying when she said that," she continued as if he hadn't spoken. "But she still didn't pay them any mind. She just lived her life happily as she waited. They tried many times to set her up with someone but she always refused. She couldn't do that to her soulmate and it wouldn't be fair to waste the time of those people when she knew nothing would come of it. Eventually they gave up and just let her be.

"But as time went on," her eyes turned sad now and he puzzled as to why, "and her soulmate continued to not appear she grew sad. All her friends were married and starting families and she was alone. How long would her soulmate make her wait? Why hadn't they come for her yet…

"And then, one night, many years latter a light appeared in her room. From the light the form of a man became clear until he stood before her at last." The sadness didn't leave her eyes causing Leon to scowl. "The man took her hand and kissed it gently. He told her he was here to make her wish come true and bring her soulmate to her. She was ecstatic. Finally, after all this time.

"But he took her to a graveyard and brought her to a stone with a name she didn't recognize. She looked at him confused and he explained. 'You've walked through your life with a voice in your head that was not your own. The voice was kind, and you loved it very much. To the point you began calling it your soulmate. Sadly, that voice belongs so someone who died long ago. Their spirit took shine to you and vowed to be your gradian angel.' The girl fell to her knees in sorrow as she reached out to touch the stone. For a moment, just a moment, she saw the face of the soul she'd grown so attached to all those years ago before it faded into the darkness.

"The man knelt down beside her. 'If only you'd been a little more selfish,' he sighed. 'If only you had demanded to know the truth sooner instead of waiting so patiently for something that would never be.' The girl sobbed and sobbed and the man held her tightly. Finally, when she had no more tears to cry she asked the man for one more wish. To go back in time and marry one of the boys she'd turned down.

"'If I do this, will you be happy?' he asked and she shrugged. 'If you do this I won't be alone.' The man wavered but granted her wish. When she woke up the next day she was beside her husband and she could hear her child crying in the other room. It wasn't the love she'd always imagined but it was enough."

"What a dreadful story," Leon scoffed, "What does it have to do with anything?"

"That woman was my grandmother," she said simply. "She told me the story as a warning. See, when I was little and even into my early teen years, I had an imaginary friend that I called my soulmate. She didn't want me to fall into the same trap she had and urged me to stop talking to my soulmate."

"You didn't listen," he said matter of factly.

"I didn't," she sighed, "but I always wondered if they voice was real or just a force of my imagination so tonight… I made a wish."

Leon waited, his eyes trained on the side of her now blushing face. He had to admit, she wasn't unappealing to look at like this. The expressions she made were almost as good as the one the Goldfish made. The thought caused him to lean in until his face was now inches from hers.

"What did you wish for?" he asked and she jumped away in shock, not expecting him to be so close. He let out a laugh at her expression before standing back up straight and looking at her expectedly.

"I wished to have a talk with my soulmate," she whispered again, her eyes dropping to the ground, "My true soulmate, whether they be the voice in my head or something else. I wanted to talk to them…"

He paused a moment, him mind replaying the words in his head again and again until he thought it might cause a migraine. This couldn't be right, he thought. How could he, Leon, a God amongst Gods, be soulmates with this human? It didn't make sense.

"You're lying," he said simply and she shook her head slightly. "You must be, that's the only logical explanation."

"I'm no-" she began but he slammed his fist against the railing next to her. His face drawing in close to hers again as he looked deep into her eyes. She stood there, petrified with fear as she looked back at him. She blinked and he saw it, deep inside the stars of a constellation he didn't recognize lit up and his frown deepened.

"You're coming with me," he hissed grabbing her wrist and pulling her body up against his own before *SNAP* he whisked them away to the heavens. He realized at that moment that he truly been there, on her balcony with her and not in his meadow. 'How did that happen,' he pondered as he began marching through the heavens to the palace, dragging the girl behind him the whole way through. 'And how did I not notice?'

He marched straight to the throne room sending a mental message to the Department of Wishes to meet him there at once. Making sure his tone left no room for arguments. A few gods tried to speak with him but once look at his face sent them all cowering in fear as he made his way down the long corridors.

"Hey- wait," the girl panted, apparently getting winded from having to run to keep up with him. "Where are we? What's going on?"

"That's exactly what I would like to know," he growled throwing open the door to the throne room where the King sat waiting for them. The smile on the trickster god's face sent a new wave of anger through Leon's body and it took everything in him no to transform and attack right then and there.

"Lord Leon," the King spoke softly, "to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"This girl," Leon said bringing the girl forward, she stumbled and fell to the ground, her body shaking in fear. "She made a wish I want to know what it means."

The King's smile never changed, "I'm sure I don't know-" just as he was speaking the door was thrown open and the rest of the Department of Wishes ran in, Goldfish in tow.

"Leon, what's this all about?" Karno asked curiously, peering around the other god to see the girl sitting on the ground a few feet away. "Huh? Another human?"

"What?" Teours asked, his interest peaked as he walked up to her, his most charming smile gracing his pretty face. "Wow, another Goldie! What are you doing here?"

"I- uh," she looked around in confusion, her eyes falling back to Leon, begging for help.

The other gods noticed her look and frowned. "Did Leon bring you here, little lady?" Tauxolouve asked holding out a hand towards her. She looked at it hesitantly before Lou smiled, "Don't worry we're not all as scary as him."

Leon snorted but didn't say anything as she took the hand of the God of Sagittarius and he helped her up.

"Can I leave," Aigonorus asked with a yawn. "This is boring."

"Leon brought a human, not the goddess, to the heavens," Huedhaut said curiously, his eyes looking over the girls' form. "This is possibly the more interesting thing to happen since meeting the goddess, don't you think, Karno."

"It is noteworthy," he nodded.

"Enough," Leon growled and the commotion ceased immediately. He stalked forward and removed the girls' hand from Lou's and turned her to face the group. "She made a wish, which of you granted it?"

They all looked around in confusion.

"We were at the party," Teo frowned tipping his head to the side.

"You're the only one who wasn't there," Hue agreed with a nod, "Perhaps you granted her wish and simply forgot?"

"I did not forget," he growled.

"Leon," the Goldfish's voice broke through his anger as she walked up to him. Her eyes met his steadily as she took the girls arm out of his grip. He let her, unable to do anything under her forceful gaze. "You're scaring her, the poor girl is shaking like a leaf."

He looked at the girl and in face her pale skin seemed to be even paler. There was water in her eyes though no tears had yet to spill down her cheeks. He felt something like regret twinge in his chest before covering with a scoff and turning away from them all.

"I'm sorry about him," the Goldfish said calmly, "He can be really unkind sometimes but he's really a nice guy once you get to know him."

The girl's tears finally spilled over. "I don't know what's happening," She whispered, her voice shaking nearly as much as her body.

The Goldfish tipped her head to the side, "Didn't he explain anything to you…?"

She just shook her head and the Goldfish snapped her gaze back to Leon. Anger building in her eyes.

"You just dragged this girl here without telling her anything?!" she demanded and he instinctively took a step back. "How could you be so cruel?!"

"There were more pressing matters at hand," he said keeping his expression as that of annoyance.

"What could be more important than explaining things to the cute girl?" Teo asked with another charming smile towards the girl. Leon just scoffed again and looked away while they all began to explain things to the girl. About how the men were all gods and they worked in what was called the Department of Wishes to grant the wishes of the humans on earth. They introduced themselves and their position within Heaven and eventually pointed out the King who was still in his throne watching all this with great amusement.

"I'm human," The Goldfish said lastly, "Like you, but my soul use to be that of the Goddess of Fate. The Goddess gave up her powers to save the earth and because of that, I was born. That's how I met these guys, they needed my help a while back and we've been friends ever since."

The girl nodded slowly, seeming to take all of this in before speaking. "Why am I here?"

"That is the question, isn't it," Hue mused looking towards Leon. "It seems you made a wish that has upset our Minister. What was it?"

"Uh," her eyes darted towards the god in question as a blush spread across her cheeks.

"No way!" Teo's eyes glimmered with excitement, "Did you wish for something dirty to happen with you and Leo?"

"What? No!" the girl shouted, her face turning an ever-brighter shade of crimson. "Nothing like that!"

The Goldfish brought her attention back to her, "Then, what?"

The girl paused, he eyes falling to the ground before she whispered, "I wished to talk to my true soulmate, whoever they may be…"

Teo frowned, "What does that have to do with Leo-"

"I see," Karno chuckled.

"Interesting," Hue mused as well.

"To bring another human into the fold," Lou smiled, "I thought the Goddess would be the only one."

"Wha-" the Goldfish looked around confused, "Guys, what do you-"

"LEON IS YOU SOULMATE?" Teo exclaimed finally seeming to catch up to the rest of them.

"No," Leon growled.

"But the fact remains," Hue said crossing his arms over his chest, "She made the wish and you appeared before her."

"Because one of you did something," he spat, "There's no way a god could ever love a human."

"Hey," the Goldfish protested, "What about me? My boyfriend is a god."

"You're different, you're a reborn Goddess."

"And so is she," Aigonorus said with a yawn and everyone turned to look at him, "What?"

"What do you mean?" Teo asked.

"You don't see them?" he asked with a shrug, "There are stars in her eyes…"

They all turned towards the girl to closely inspect her eyes. She tried to back away from their intense gaze but Karno stopped her with a kind smile. "Sorry to make you uncomfortable but please permit us this for only a short time more. We need to see for ourselves."

"Uhhhhh…" she stammered but didn't more away as Teo let out a gasp of surprise.

"There really are stars in there!"

"They are faint," Lou frowned slightly as he took a step back.

"I've read about this," Hue said stepping back as well. "I believe it means that she is a direct descendent of a fallen god. Her soul itself is not that of a reborn goddess but divinity run in her blood all the same."

"Do you recognize the constellation?" Karno asked.

"No," He shook his head, "I've never seen it before."

"I have," Lou said with a wicked grin, "It's Draco."

"Huh?"

"Draco?" Goldfish frowned, "I know that constellation, well I know a little bit. It was once the Norther Pole Star but because of how the universe moves it won't be again for a very long time."

"I'm sure that's what the humans know of it but in the heavens it's a little more interesting," Lou smiled, once again taking the hand of the girl. "Draco was once the most powerful Goddess in the Heavens."

"What?" the girl and the Goldfish gasped in unison.

"It's true," Hue nodded thoughtfully, "From what I've read, her power far out weighed what Leon possess now. Some even say that she was equal to the King himself."

"Is that even possible?" Goldfish whispered casting a quick glance at the King on his throne.

"It was before my time," he shrugged looking at the others.

"Me too," Karno nodded.

"I think that I am the only one who was around back then," Lou said glancing around the room. "But yes, she was something to behold. She could hear the subconscious thought of all around her and if she expressed even the slightest effort she could hear the thoughts of all throughout the heavens and the earth."

"Whoa, really?" Goldfish's eyes sparkled with excitement, "What happened to her?"

Lou looked thoughtful as he recalled the past, "She was the Minister of Wishes at the time and used her special power to extract the true reasons why people wished for what they did. You could lie to those around you but your subconscious always knew the truth.

"But she grew disillusioned with humanity. She said that they were all evil, and greedy and she refused to grant another wish for them." He looked at the King, "So the King branded her with a mark of Sin and forced her to walk among the humans she'd grown to hate."

"What happened then?" Teo asked, clearly enthralled with the story.

"I don't know," Lou said, "She never came back and because of her immense power she was able to cast a veil to block herself from our view in the reflecting pools. The only one who would know would be…" The rest of them all turned to the King who still sat perfectly still in his throne watching them all.

"Well," Leon growled, "Out with it, Trickster."

The King's smile only grew, "The Goddess of Draco was an amazing woman, you all would have liked her very much. Though I'm sure there would have also be just a little bit of fear mixed in with that fondness. Like how you all regard Leon now."

"Hmp," Leon's lips curled into his usual smirk, "as they should."

"But she didn't grow disillusioned with humanity," the King continued, "She adored them and asked to walk among them. But her opinion was not shared with much of the heaven as so to avoid unnecessary trouble she claimed hatred towards the humans she loved so much.

"One day she came to me and asked to go to earth. She wanted to see the effects of the wishes she granted up close and I agreed to allow her this. She left, and never returned."

"What happened?" Teo asked.

"She did indeed cast the veil to block the view of her from the reflection pools but that was not enough to hide her from me," the King said. "She married a human man and started a family with him. But, as the years went on, he aged and she remained the same. One night a wish reached my ear. The most heartfelt and earnest wish I have ever heard. She wished for her and her child to become human. She would give up her divinity to be with the man she loved and so I granted her wish, taking her power but not the stars from her eyes.

"I've personally watched over the line of Draco for all of these many years," the King continued, his eyes taking on a fondness that Leon was not expecting, "I watched as many generations were born and passed on until I began to notice something strange was happening. Some of the children were showing signs of power. Not much but the gift was unmistakable. They were connecting to the subconscious of those around them just as Draco had been able to.

"But not just that," he continued casting his eyes onto the girl, "They were connecting to all manner of beings. Spirits, demons, even some gods themselves."

"Grandmother," the girl whispered.

"Her gift was particularly strong when it came to the Spirits that roam the earth," The king nodded, "But she was suffering because of it and so I went to her and granted her wish."

"You did your majesty?" Karno asked in disbelief.

"I have been known to grant a wish from time to time," the King said with a pointed smile towards the Goldfish. "Just as it was I who granted the wish of young Asha tonight-"

"You," Leon demanded before scoffing, "Tch, I should have known you were behind this."

"I know you thing I pulled some trick, Leon," the King said with a raise of his eyebrow, "But I assure you I just fulfilled her wish. No, manipulation, to twisting fate for my own amusement. I wouldn't do that to the legacy of Draco."

"Then…" Hue looked between the girl and Leon.

"That means…" Lou began, carefully letting go of the girl's hands.

"Yes," the King grinned, "Asha and Leon are soulmates. I was just as surprised as the rest of you when I felt the mental connection between them form but fate is a fickle thing."

"Fate?" the girl asked, "What do you mean?"

"It was from the power that Draco gave up that Leon was born," the King explained, "Without her sacrifice we would not have our troublesome Minister of Wishes. So, it is rather amusing that fate would choose to connect the two once again all these years later. I suppose we have your former self to thank for that, Goddess."

"Wha-" the Goldfish floundered, looking between them all, "Me?"

"Before she sacrificed herself, the Goddess of Fate was in charge of writing the story of the universe," The King mused, "You were indeed a busy Goddess."

"So, this is your fault," Leon sneered at the gasping Goldfish, "I should have known."

"Hey, I didn't do anything!"

"Let's all calm down," Lou said with another dazzling smile. "It's been an interesting night for everyone but I think it's best if we all take some time to process what all has happened. This little lady in particular has had a lot of information dumped on her in just a short period of time."

"I agree," Hue said with a thoughtful look, "We should also set up a door from her apartment to the mansion."

The girl's eyes wavered, "A what?"

"It's a door that allows you to come to the place where we live while on earth," Teo explained, "if you need anything you can just walk through and we can help. Or if you want to just come say hi that would be okay too." He raised his eyebrow suggestively at the last sentence and a blush creeped across her cheeks.

"Uh, probably not," she mumbled, her eyes falling back to the floor.

"I'll take you home," Lou smiled kindly and held out his hand. The girl paused, her gaze flickering to Leon who turned his nose up but didn't say anything. She hesitantly reached out to take the other gods' hand and a devilish smirk crossed his lips as he pulled her against his body. "Hold on tightly now. Wouldn't want to drop you." He shot a challenging look towards Leon before *SNAP* he and the girl vanished from the throne room.

"Well," the King chuckled behind them, "this has certainly taken a most amusing turn."

Leon glared at the king, "Damn trickster..." The King only grinned before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Shall we return to the party?" Hue asked the Goldfish, "I'm sure the punishment gods will want a full report."

Leon watched the others all walk away. The Goldfish paused a moment in the threshold of the throne room. Her eyes lingering on Leon as he stood, alone in the empty room. "What?" he asked after a beat of silence between them.

"Leon…" she trailed off before returning to stand near him, "I know this is all very sudden, and shocking but…"

"But what?" he raised an eyebrow, "Out with it, Goldfish, I don't have all night."

"Isn't this a good thing?" she asked tipping her head to the side, "Or at least can't in be one eventually? Asha seems like a nice girl-"

"Oh-ho," he smirked turning to face her fully now, "How bold you have grown, thinking you can tell a God what to think."

In the past that alone would have been enough to send of a shiver of fear down her spine but now she just shook her head and sighed at him. "That's not what I'm doing and you know it. It's just… You've been so down recently and I think maybe she can help you."

"I don't know what you're referring to and I don't need any help with anything," she scoffed, "You best watch yourself, Goldfish. Your boyfriend can protect you from a great many things but I am not one of them."

She rolled her eyes now, "Yeah, whatever, Leon. I'll see you later." And then she turned and walked through the door that lead back to the mansion; leaving Leon well and truly alone.

He let out a long sigh as his mind ran over the events of the evening. It was ridiculous, the idea of his soulmate being a human girl? He was the most powerful god in all the heavens. If he had to he would be with only the most noble of Goddess, not some human who could die in an instant. What would the point be, loving something so fragile-

The Goldfish's face flashed before his eyes and he felt his chest ache.

No, he didn't understand it. Caring for a thing that would only bring him pain. This girl, this Asha, the both of them would be better off never seeing each other again as far as he was concerned. Caring is a weakness. Love is something to be exploited and used against others. He would never allow himself that kind of vulnerability. The Goddess of Draco was proof. She was one of the most powerful entities in the universe and she gave it all up to live and die as a human. How much more pathetic can it get?

He returned to his room in the heavens, not wanting to deal with the annoying questions that the other gods would pose to him if he went to the mansion. He just wanted to be alone, that's how all this had started, his desire to be alone. And now…

He wondered over to the reflecting pool, searching for the girl out of idle curiosity but it was as the trickster said. She was nowhere to be seen within the water. Magic like that, to have lasted as many generations as it has, the Goddess of Draco must have been an impressing being indeed. Neither Punishments nor Wishes would see the sins or the wishes of her family, they would never have known she existed much less who her ancestor was.

There was a flash and a note appeared on the edge of the reflecting pool. He recognized Tauxolouve's handwriting immediately.

 ** _Got the little lady home, safe and sound. She really is a sweet thing, if you're not interested maybe I'll show her a good time._**

Leon scowled at the note before igniting it in flames in his hand. He had no interest in the girl, Tauxolouve was free to do what he would with her. He had no time to even contemplate entertaining the girl.

Precisely, he thought as he laid back against his bed. There is far too much work at the moment even if he wanted to get to know here, which he did not, there wasn't enough time. Yes, that's it. He smiled in satisfaction and he closed his eyes to rest.


End file.
